Spin-off...How much is your limit for teacher gifts?

[ghostie79]

This is my first year giving teacher gifts and I'm having a hard time.
I'd like to get dd's teacher a fairly nice gift basket, but I don't know how much is too much or not enough. I certainly don't want to make it look like I'm trying to buy the teacher off LOL
How much do you all usually spend??

Oh- and what about the teacher's aide???

[weacross3]

I am going the gift certificate route. I am going to get $10 GCs to local bookstores. That way they can get books, coffee, CDs, whatever they want. DS in Kindergarten has an aide, and since she does so much with the kids, I give her the same amount as the teacher.

[Brenda2000]

Well, I usually hit the after Christmas sales hard for great deals, and then save the items back.
For example, a couple years ago the San Francisco Music Box company (online) had a bunch of really nice items heavily marked down. I bought a bunch of musical snowglobes, cookie jars, etc, and I've been giviing those as teacher gifts.

[cata5]

Normally I spend $5-$10 and usually try to get something on sale so it has a higher value. Several times I have bought a $5 video rental card and given it with microwave popcorn. Simple and it can be used up and you don't have to know what they like or don't like. I had many gifts to buy with 4 kids in grade school so I had to go the cheap route. Unfortunately for the junior high and high school teachers, we haven't given many gifts because there are so many teachers. I would be open to suggestions in this area. Sometimes if they had a favorite teacher they brought something small.

I don't think that you need to spend much, but if you want to that's great, too.

[aprilgail]

Our class chips in 10 a piece for each teacher (there are 2) and then I pick up something exxtra, last year for Christmas it was a 25.00 gift cert. each for a restaurant and the end of the year a basket of chocolate along with the class gift. I saw other parents giving baskets from bath and body works or yankee candles along with the class gift too...

[freesurfer]

I usually do candles for the teachers or games for the room.

[slmlmlel]

I also have this same problem with my DD being in Kindergarden. She has 5 teachers ( the teacher, and assistant, P.E.teacher, music teacher and the libarain because they have libary every 3 days). The problem I have is we went to a before school started class and the teacher mentioned she loved home made goodies. So, going off that my daughter and I made her some cookies, for the first day of school. We put them in a little basket with a glass coffee mug and some genermills coffee. My daughter added a package of stickers and a not telling her to have great first day. Well, the problem is they had a open house 5 week later and when we were there I saw the basket sitting on the floor next to her desk not opened. The only thing she opened was the card. And I know this because we tied a bow around the glad lock container we put the cookies in. Sorry to go on. But, now what do I do?

[secrettreasure]

I spend about $15 on her homeroom teacher and about $10 on her other 3 teachers in her middle school.

[eldo]

ghostie,

Good suggestions here, but one thing you may want to do first is check with your room mom to see if she will be collecting $ for a single gift.

The first year of school I didn't realize this was the norm and I felt I should contribute the money rather than give the gift I had picked out and tell the room mom I couldn't help out. I was able to use my gift for someone else, but it would have saved me shopping time had I known I would be asked for $. Almost every class my kids have been in has done a collection for the teacher at Christmas and at the end of the school year.

If you confirm there are no plans for a class gift, then you can go ahead and select a gift on your own.